Teesta Setalvad, her husband shall not be arrested: SC

February 19, 2015

New Delhi, Feb 19: The Supreme court today directed Gujarat Police not to arrest social activist Teesta Setalvad and her husband in a case of alleged embezzlement of funds for a museum at Ahmedabad's Gulbarg Society that was devastated in the 2002 riots.

Teesta Setalvad"It is directed that the petitioners (Setalvad and her husband) will not be arrested in connection with the case," a bench comprising justices Dipak Misra and Adarsh Kumar Goel said, while reserving its judgement on their plea seeking anticipatory bail.

The apex court directed Setalvad and her husband Javed Anand to provide all documents, vouchers and list of persons who gave donations to their NGOs Sabrang Trust and Citizens for Justice and Peace for carrying out investigation in the case.

The bench accepted the request of their counsel Kapil Sibal that their accountant will be allowed to represent along with them before the Gujarat Police during the inquiry.

On the apprehension of Gujarat Police on the issue of non-cooperation of the accused during the investigation, the bench told senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the Gujarat government,   "If they will not cooperate with you in the investigation, you can file an application before us for cancellation of their bail."

The bench declined to give any commitment to Sibal whether the inquiry will be limited to post-2007 donations received by the two trusts for setting up a museum in memory of the victims or it will cover the activities of NGOs since 2002.

The bench replied, "Who are we to say. You are only on anticipatory bail qua FIR." The apex court was hearing the appeal filed by Setalvad and her husband against the judgement of the Gujarat High Court which rejected their plea for anticipatory bail for not cooperating with the investigation.

The Gujarat government faced some tough questions from the bench which asked, "Is this such a case where the liberty should be taken away or curtailed?

"What is the need for personal or custodial interrogation?" the bench asked Jethmalani who said that it is a case of "rank non-cooperation" and "tampering with witness" by the accused.

However, the bench said, the question is "can the liberty of a person be put on ventilator of the ICU?"

At the outset, Sibal said no citizen is above the law and if any wrong has been committed, that person has to bear the consequences but, at the same time, the state can also be not allowed to prosecute the people who have been fighting the state.

He submitted that Setalvad and her husband have been protected by the court in six FIRs and this was the seventh FIR lodged by Gujarat Police accusing them of misappropriating crores of rupees but the fact was they had raised only Rs 4.60 lakh.

He submitted that the accused were ready to place entire documents and also ready for scrutiny of each and every entry of the account book.

The bench wanted to know from Jethmalani as to why Setalvad and her husband were required to be taken for custodial interrogation.

Jethmalani said maximum opportunity was given to them but they have not cooperated in the investigation in the case in which they have collected money in the name of the riot victims.

Sibal had earlier said that a concocted case of fund embezzlement of crores of rupees has been lodged without proper verification of accounts of the NGOs named in the FIR.

The High Court in its February 12 judgement had observed that Setalvad and her husband were not cooperating in the probe and that "they cannot be armoured with full-fledged anticipatory bail when applicants did not cooperate with the investigation".

Setalvad and her husband have been booked by the Crime Branch of Gujarat Police on charges of cheating, breach of trust and under the IT Act, in a matter relating to the construction of "Museum of Resistance" in the Gulbarg Society in Ahmedabad which was hit by communal riots in 2002.

On February 28, 2002, in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning incident, armed rioters had swooped on the Gulbarg Society and killed 69 people, including former Congress MP Ehsan Jafri.

One of the riot victims from Gulbarg Housing Society, which was burnt during the 2002 post-Godhra riots, had lodged a complaint with the Ahmedabad Police against Setalvad, Anand and two NGOs run by them - Citizens for Justice and Peace and Sabrang Trust - alleging misappropriation of funds to the tune of Rs 1.51 crore.

According to the complaint, the accused persons had collected funds in the name of converting part of the Gulbarg Society into a museum and had allegedly misappropriated funds worth Rs 1.51 crores.

The accused had contended that they have been implicated in the case and were victims of political vendetta. They claimed that they were being targeted by the perpetrators of the riots.

In 2006, the social activists decided to build the 'Museum of Resistance' at the site of the Gulbarg Society. Accordingly in 2009, a part of the plot was sold to Sabrang Trust.

However in 2012, the idea of the museum was dropped as the prices escalated. The same was communicated to the society.

But, according to the complaint filed against Setalvad, funds were collected by her despite the idea being dropped.

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Agencies
February 14,2020

Lucknow, Feb 14: Uttar Pradesh doctor Kafeel Khan was on Friday booked under the National Security Act (NSA) over his alleged anti-CAA speech at Aligarh Muslim University on December 12, 2019.

The Uttar Pradesh slapped NSA on Kafeel Khan on Friday even as the doctor waited to be released from jail despite being granted bail on Monday in connection with his alleged inflammatory speech.

SP Crime Dr Arvind said that there were sufficient grounds to book the doctor under NSA.

The suspended pediatrician, Kafeel Khan, was arrested for allegedly delivering a controversial speech during Anti-CAA protests on December 12 at the Aligarh Muslim University or AMU. While he was granted bail on Monday, his family members claimed on Thursday that he was yet to be released.

Dr Kafeel Khan's brother Adeel Ahmed Khan had issued a statement saying that despite being granted bail Mathura jail authorities had not honoured the court's order.

Dr Kafeel Khan was arrested by the UP Special Task Force from Mumbai on January 29 for participating anti-CAA protest at AMU. A case was registered against him at the Civil Lines police station here for promoting enmity between different religions.

After his arrest in Mumbai, Dr Khan was brought to Aligarh, from where he was shifted to the district jail in neighbouring Mathura.

According to police, this was done as a precautionary measure in view of the anti-CAA protests on the AMU campus and at the Eidgah grounds in the old city. Police had said that the Dr Khan's presence in the Aligarh jail could have aggravated the law and order situation in the city.

The doctor was earlier arrested for his alleged role in the death of over 60 children in one week at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur in August 2017. Short supply of oxygen at the children's ward was blamed at that time for the deaths.

About two years later, a state government probe cleared Khan of all major charges, prompting him to seek an apology from the Yogi Adityanath government.

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Agencies
April 23,2020

More and more Indians have become better prepared in the last one month, as far as stocking of their ration, medicine or money is concerned, according to the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker.

With the second leg of the lockdown half way through and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it's a long haul, 57.2% respondents said they have less than three weeks of stock while 43.3% said they have a stock that will last beyond that

However, if one breaks into weeks, most respondents said they are prepared for a week's time. 24.5% respondents said they have ration, medicine or money to last a week. This is closely followed by 21.9 % respondents saying they are ready for a month.

Meanwhile, 20.4 % said they are ready for a couple of weeks. There are 15.8 % who said they are ready for more than a month with food, ration and medicine. A tiny 5.6 % said they are ready with three weeks of stock.

However, there is 12.3% who still seem to live on the edge with less than a week's preparation.

But, the biggest takeaway from the IANS-CVoter COVID-19 Tracker is that in the last one month, a massive segment of society realised that the fight is long and the preparation should also be to last that long.

o put things into context, on March 16 when the tracker started, a whopping 77.1% said they have stock to last for less than a week. More than a month later on April 21, that number jumped to just 12.3%, which essentially means, people have become better prepared for a long-hauled lockdown period.

Similarly, on April 21, a sizable 21.9% respondents claimed they are ready with ration and medicine that will last them a month. On March 16, not even one respondent could claim they have a month's stock. In fact till March 22, just ahead of the announcement of the first lockdown, no respondent the IANS-CVoter tracker said that they have a month's preparation.

Similarly, when the tracker started, 9.9% said they simply ‘don't know'. As on April 21, that number is a big zero.

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Agencies
February 9,2020

Panaji, Feb 10: Archbishop of Goa and Daman, Rev Filipe Neri Ferrao, has urged the central government to "immediately and unconditionally revoke the Citizenship Amendment Act" and stop quashing the "right to dissent".

He also appealed to the government not to implement the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the National Population Register (NPR).

Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, a wing of the Goa Church, in a statement on Saturday said, "The Archbishop and the Catholic community of Goa would like to appeal to the government to listen to the voice of millions in India, to stop quashing the right to dissent and, above all, to immediately and unconditionally revoke the CAA and desist from implementing the NRC and the NPR."

The CAA, NRC and NPR are "divisive and discriminatory" and will certainly have a "negative and damaging effect" on a multi-cultural democracy like ours, the church said.

There is serious concern that NRC and NPR will result in "direct victimisation of the underprivileged classes, particularly Dalits, adivasis, migrant labourers, nomadic communities and the countless undocumented people who, after having been recognised as worthy citizens and voters for more than 70 years, will suddenly run the risk of becoming stateless and candidates for detention camps," it said.

There has been widespread discontent and open protests throughout the country and even abroad against the CAA, NRC and NPR, which are "forecasting a systematic erosion of values, principles and rights" that have been guaranteed to all citizens in the Constitution, the release said.

Eminent citizens, including top intellectuals and legal luminaries, have taken a studied and unequivocal stand against the CAA, NRC and NPR, it noted.

Goa also witnessed several protests, which transcended the confines of religious and caste affiliation and brought people from all walks of life together on one united platform, said the statement.

It said Christians in India have always been a peace loving community and deeply committed to the ideals of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, enshrined in the
Constitution.

"We have always taken great pride that our beloved country is a secular, sovereign, socialist, pluralistic anddemocratic republic," the church said.

The very fact that CAA uses religion goes against the secular fabric of the country, it said.

"It goes against the spirit and heritage of our land which, since times immemorial, has been a welcoming home to all, founded on the belief that the whole world is one big family," the church said.

"We pray for our beloved country, that good sense, justice and peace prevail in the hearts and minds of all," it added.

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